By Patric Hedlund

Steve Pendergrass, 33, was about to become the father of a new bouncing baby boy Tuesday, Jan. 16, but rural residents of Kern County may wish to pass the cigars for another happy event in which he takes pride.

Pendergrass is Safety and Training officer for Kern County Fire Department’s limited paramedic program. Chief Dennis Thompson and Deputy Chief Nick Dunn have given him the green light to research the feasibility of expanding KCFD’s paramedic program.

“This is an effort in partnership with the Department of Emergency Medical Services,” the former Pine Mountain Fire Captain said. “We need to know there is infrastructure in place with people and supplies available. Ross Elliott and Hall Ambulance have been very helpful in providing information… I haven’t run into any roadblocks.”

Before they stopped counting, his initial probe to see if any firefighters might want to become paramedics received 63 emails, 18 handwritten letters and 20 telephone calls.

“I’ve had three meetings with 60 people attending in full classrooms; it appears 20 percent of our fire department is interested in becoming firefighter/paramedics at this time,” the seven-year KCFD veteran explained during an interview while his wife was in labor Tuesday night.

Currently, KCFD’s 18 paramedics are strictly limited to training. A hazardous material “hazmat” rescue program will begin soon. Pendergrass’ task is to evaluate what would be required to expand that “to make this an ALS department.”

“ALS” stands for Advanced Life Support. Mountain Community residents have been urging county supervisors to see the importance of having ALS capability in rural fire departments because firefighters are able to reach emergencies within eight minutes, which is the critical window for saving lives and preventing permanent brain damage for many medical crises. Ambulance response times of fifteen, twenty-five and fifty-five minutes are common in outlying areas of Kern County.

“Eighty-five percent of calls into Kern County [911 emergency] dispatch are medically related; 65 percent of all Kern County Fire Department responses are for medical assists,” Pendergrass said. “Every single person in Kern County Fire Department needs to see themself as a medical care professional.”

Pendergrass said he worked for six and a half years with Hall Ambulance before joining KCFD. “He has top of the line equipment and takes care of his personnel; it is an excellent company that cares about patient care,” he said, “We need to work as a cohesive team with ambulance service providers…and we also need to recall that a defibrillator is not enough; you need ALS first-responders who can administer medications to keep the heart beating. It is the chain of care that makes the difference. Advanced Life Support firefighters are at the front end….”

This is part of the January 19, 2007 online edition of The Mountain Enterprise.

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